The second pupil in ‘Comprehensive’ is a boy named ‘Wayne,’ who is depicted as a stereotypical boy. He is precocious in the way he thinks he is ‘too old for games’ and believes he is old enough to support something so controversial, when clearly he does not understand it to a full extent. He holds a very patriarchal view, especially when it comes to women. He believes that they are there to have their knickers pulled down, as it were and cook for him. Such a strong attitude as this for a pupil of only fourteen years of age inevitably will cause friction between him and his peers and teachers. And in a school of mixed culture, this would not bode well.
Although the teacher has not such a derogatory attitude as Wayne, she is similar in the way that she has very strong views that she places upon the young Irish boy in, ‘In Which The Ancient History Is Not My Own.’ The Teacher is very patriotic, and expects the pupil of a completely different culture to be the same about England. An example of this is when the teacher describes the Roman Empire as ‘the greatest Empire ever known- until our time of course.’ This is the kind of attitude that is almost stripping the boy of his patriotism of his own land, and restricting him from learn about his own History. He has had to take on another cultures history and been forced to take it on as his own.
Similarities can be made between the young Irish boy and ‘Ejaz’ and ‘Masjid’ from ‘Comprehensive.’ They too are forced to conform to the British culture.
‘Majid at 6’oclock. School at 8.’ Begins his first line, the pupil has been given no exceptions or allowances for his own customs, one of which being his time of worship in the morning. He is expected to find his own way of fitting it in, and if he can’t, then it’s his problem; the school will not help him, but hinder him.
‘Ejaz’ has been pushed into the British culture so much, that he does not even realise his own.
‘They put some sausages on my plate. As I was going to put one in my mouth a Moslem boy jumped on me and pulled. The plate dropped to the floor.’
He did no realise that he was not supposed to eat meat; he had been swept up into the culture of Britain.
The young Irish boy is close to forgetting his roots, and,
‘Wanted to trace over and over the weave of my country. To read our names I was close to forgetting. Wicklow. Kilruddery. Dublin.’
You can see how he most likely has to conform; otherwise he will not fit in with the other children, and will not be accepted.
The uncaring attitude of ‘Michelle’ in ‘Comprehensive’ is shown in the way everything is ‘boring, she feels pessimistic about her life, and holds little hope for herself. She has resigned to ‘getting engaged and a getting a job in Safeway’s’ This is a problem amongst many pupils today, who have not got the motivation to strive for their goals, and meet their intrinsic targets in order to get somewhere in their life. In many cases it is the way that they have been brought up, and in some it is due to the social groups the form at school, the need to stay with their friends causes many to drop out of school as groups, in ‘Michelle’s case it seems as though her mother doesn’t push her, and in fact holds her back by not allowing her to do anything.
The boy in the final stanza of ‘Comprehensive holds the most optimistic view, in the way that he doesn’t fit in with, or conform to the British culture, but still holds optimism. They have stayed true to their culture and know their own History and aren’t allowing themselves to be stifled.
So we see in both poems the diverse range of cultures, and the diverse range of views held by the pupils. Some ridicule others, some are not accepted, and some don’t want to conform but are forced to. Causing, as is represented by both poems, for the most part and adverse effect to their attitudes and values.